... to see Buddy the Elf, Cindy Lou Who and a Santa-themed Joe Dirt partying together.

No joke. That's what you'll see at the SantaCon pub crawl in Downtown Lakeland at 6 p.m. Saturday.

To put it simply, SantaCon is Halloween for the holiday season. Attendees to this free event dress up in Santa or holiday-themed outfits and migrate from bar to bar. The Lakeland SantaCon, entering its fourth year, has grown into one of Lakeland's biggest holiday events.

Linzy Wilson, 29, of Lakeland will be attending her third Lakeland SantaCon this weekend and has enjoyed the ability to let loose with so many people.

"It's high energy, everyone is having a great time," Wilson said. "It's not like your typical night out where sometimes you feel insecure about how you look or it's loaded with a bunch of 18- to 20-year-olds. It's a very comfortable setting."

This year's event will include some traditional Lakeland SantaCon activities as well as some firsts.

The pub crawl will begin at the Downtown Linksters, where judges will conduct the first SantaCon costume contest. SantaCon co-coordinator Troy Covey said there will be prizes from downtown businesses and restaurants.

The costumes at SantaCon range from the traditional red coat with white beard to the the Sons of Santa Biker Gang, a take on the TV show "Sons of Anarchy."

In the past, Wilson has gone as a Shake Weight Santa and a We Sell Gold sign-spinning Santa. Wilson said she tries to be topical and put a Santa spin on it; this year she'll be Gangnam Santa, a take on the music video "Gangnam Style."

"A lot of people have gotten creative," Covey said. "We're just encouraging people to throw some stuff together, go to Goodwill or the local art-supply places and be as creative as possible.

"There was some really creative costumes out there, and I'm expecting it to get even better next year."

The second stop will be at Molly McHugh's Irish Pub for some "Christmas Caroloke" and a large group photo about 8 p.m. in front of the arch at Munn Park.

Then the party will shift to a block party on Pine Street, with live music in front of The Socialite. Pub crawlers can also participate in a giant game of flip cup.

Flip cup has two teams on opposite sides of the table drink a small portion of beer and try to flip their cup in the air to land upside down.

Over the past few years, attendance at the Lakeland SantaCon has steadily increased. The ages of attendees range from early 20s to mid-to-late 40s. Covey said last year's event had an estimated crowd of 350 people, and this year he hopes to double that.

Covey, along with fellow coordinators Jen Lysak and Krista Hakes, have used social media and word of mouth to tell people about his year's event. Currently, the Lakeland SantaCon Facebook event page has more than 900 people confirmed going and more than 475 people who "may attend."

This will be Sarah Flynn's first SantaCon. Flynn heard of the event from a co-worker who attended a previous SantaCon.

"They said it was exciting," said Flynn, 33, of Lakeland. "I went to the zombie festival at Halloween and they compared (SantaCon) to ZombieFest, that a lot of people come out for it, it's a free event and a lot of fun. I'm super excited about going."

Matt Reinstetle can be reached at matt.reinstetle@theledger.com or 802-7533. Follow Matt on Twitter @LedgerMatt.

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